History - Edinburgh Comedy Awards history 36 YEARS OF DISCOVERING COMEDY GENIUS Best Comedy Show 2016 Richard Gadd Monkey See Monkey Do Best Newcomer 2016 Scott Gibson Life After Death don't forget to follow us: keep up to date & history the history of the edinburgh comedy awards Born in 1981, The Edinburgh Comedy Awards, in their various guises, have enjoyed thirty glorious years of putting comedians, from The League of Gentlemen to Al Murray, on the cultural map. The awards have nurtured the art from its so-called “alternative comedy” status to the popular leisure pursuit it has become today, a time when comedian’s live work attracts attention as never before. It’s little wonder that the awards have earnt their own accolade – "the Oscars of comedy." The awards were born at a crucible moment for comedy, 1981, when The Comedy Store had spawned The Comic Strip and a scene was truly started in London, meanwhile, in the same year in Edinburgh, The Assembly Rooms opened to be in prime position to reflect this new movement at the Fringe Festival, soon to be joined by The Pleasance and The Gilded Balloon.

Between 1981 and 1984 the comedy awards were looked after by Lou Stein, founder of The Gate Theatre Notting Hill, London. In 1984 theatre impresario Nica Burns took over the awards, then sponsored by Perrier, making them bigger and bolder and instituting a list of nominees rather than just an outright winner. Nica had, by this time, brought a number of theatre productions to the Edinburgh Fringe and had started to program both plays and late night comedy at the Finborough Arms theatre pub in London. Some of those who did open spot turns at the club included Jeremy Hardy, a future winner of The Perrier (as the award would be known for 25 years), Paul Merton and Rory Bremner and the Finborough became established as one of the new wave of comedy clubs. In 1983 Nica became the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse where she also put on comedy alongside cutting edge theatre. Thus she was in a prime position to take over the comedy awards and used the Donmar to house the ‘Pick of the Fringe’ season in the same way that she showcases the winners at her Nimax theatres.

When Nica took over the comedy awards there were a mere 40 shows eligible for them now there are over 350, such is the growth of the mirth industry. All shows are seen and everything from storytelling to stand up is in with a chance of crowning glory. The awards and their reputation have grown along with the rising number of shows and a newcomer award was added in 1992, a panel prize award in 2006, and the prize itself has grown and now affords the winner a stint as part of the prestigious Just for Laughs comedy festival tour in Canada and the US. The true testimony status of the awards is, of course, the calibre of the acts that have won them. The inaugural winners were Cambridge Footlights in 1981 whose line up included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Emma Thompson, meanwhile other winners whose careers after have literally spoken for them include Sean Hughes, still the youngest ever winner at age 24, Frank Skinner, Steve Coogan, Dylan Moran, The League of Gentlemen, and Al Murray.

Among the nominees are some equally stellar acts including The Mighty Boosh, Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili, Peter Kay, Eddie Izzard, and Ross Noble. Such a comprehensive roll of honour has caught the imagination of many a Fringe debutante and thousands flock to ‘festival city’ every year to aspire to the same giddy heights. Indeed, the mystique that surrounds the awards is well known to anyone who has ever visited the Edinburgh Fringe either as a performer or a punter. This mystique was, to some extent, immortalised in the film Festival in 2005. While the reality is slightly less raucous than the film portrayed, the judging panels are indeed as tenacious as they are portrayed when it comes to fighting for their preferred candidate and the rumour mill is definitely in full swing outside of the panel meetings. While the rumour mill often gets it wrong, in my experience, the opinion on the shortlists, which is purely subjective, of course, also runs wild and ensures earnest debates and bar-room buzz into the early hours.

For one month in every year, at least, everyone, from acts to journalists to audience members, is talking about comedy and they are most often doing so through the prism of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. "a launch pad for the careers of our greatest stand-ups" - Iain McDonald, BBC July 2009 Julian Hall the birth of the comedy awards - nica burns looks back There must have been something in the air in 1981. Alternative comedy burst forth at the Comic Strip, Bill Burdett-Coutts founded Assembly Rooms at the Fringe and the Edinburgh Comedy Awards were born in the guise of the Perrier Award. And me? I was playing Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream on tour with the company from the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. In 1982 - wanting to do my own work - I brought my own adaptation of HE Bates' Dulcina to the Celtic Lodge on the Royal Mile with my friend Colin Watkeys. Colin directed, designed the set and lights, did the press and I did everything else and had a whopping part. Everything, including the set, had to fit in to my ford Escort or it didn't come.

We sank our life savings into it and learned how to produce. We got a terrific review in The Scotsman, sold out the run, were offered some touring dates and a run at the Finborough Arms, a pub theatre in London. While at the Finborough, we started doing late-night comedy on Fridays and Saturdays. We had fantastic performers doing open slots - Jeremy Hardy, Paul Merton, Rory Bremner - while I compered because we couldn’t afford to pay anyone. Colin and I became fascinated by the idea of using comedians in a theatrical context, so on our return to Edinburgh in 1983, we had comic John Dowie playing Strindberg, alongside Mark Steel in A Little Cabaret for Bertolt Brecht. To this day, I have enormous regards for the skill, drive and sheer balls you have to have to be a comic - let alone writing ability, charisma, timing and the courage to mine your life and views for good material. Those two summers at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe changed my life. I did work I really believed in, met a busload if interesting performers, made incredible connections, had enormous fun and got noticed. More than that - Edinburgh gave me my lucky break.

By the end of 1983, I had become artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in Covent Garden. We did fantastic cutting-edge theatre work and I continued my commitment to stand-up with more late-night comedy. In 1984, I took over the Perrier Awards, persuading Perrier to put a lot more money into it, starting Perrier Pick of the fringe Season at the Donmar, bringing nine shows in three weeks to London. This is my 29th consecutive year at the Fringe, my 26th running The Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Comedy has grown, with clubs all over the country and comic talent and audiences to fill them. The awards too have grown to include awards for Best Newcomer and a Panel Prize. In 1984 there were only about 40 shows eligible for the award. In 2009 there are about 350 shows. And yes we will actually see them all. The range of talent is astounding. Everything from physical comedy, story telling, character comedy and improv to pure stand-up. It is only by seeing so many different (and so many different types of) shows that the best begin to emerge.

So what is the panel looking for? How do they manage to come to a shortlist of six shows? Simple really. Great material, wonderful performances, spot on timing, an original point of view, a rapport with the audience and lots of laughs. And there is that indefinable something that a comic has, to bring all these things together and sustain it for a whole hour. Not easy. There’s also a special kind of buzz, one you hear from the comedy fans in the queues and in the bars by the comedians themselves: "Oh, X is in a major roll, he’s really cracked it this year". I don’t vote (thank goodness) but I do get to listen to the passionate panel debates. "Listen to A's material!" "What about B's originality?" "Savour C's timing!" "Did you see the way D bounces off the audience?" You may not agree with the shortlist, in fact, you personally might not find some of the nominees funny. Sense of humour does differ from person to person after all. However, I bet if you went to see them all, you'd have to agree they are not just good, but great at what they do.

The former Perrier award was first presented to Cambridge Footlights in 1981. This line up included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Slattery and Emma Thompson. The Award has consistently catapulted comic geniuses into the nation's consciousness and TV screens. They have grown to become a coveted national institution with a list of winners and nominees that reads like a who's who of comedy, including Frank Skinner, Eddie Izzard, Steve Coogan, Lee Evans, Jenny Éclair, The League of Gentlemen, Peter Kay, Rich Hall, Laura Solon and many more. Can Nica Burns save the Perrier comedy awards, asks Veronica Lee | Stage | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close So the best-known award for comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe can't find a sponsor this year, after the departure of Scottish company Intelligent Finance and, previously, Perrier . One hopes it's just a temporary corporate unwillingness to part with money in a difficult climate, rather than the beginning of the end for comedy's most prestigious comedy award. The Perrier was first given in 1981, to a Cambridge Footlights group that included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Slattery and Emma Thompson (whatever happened to them?).

A newcomer award was added in 1992 and a panel prize in 2006, when Intelligent Finance became the sponsor. Other awards have come and gone, but these have remained a constant and are, along with their long-time director, Nica Burns , now synonymous with comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe , the world's biggest and best arts festival. There has been the occasional inexplicable winner – Simon Fanshawe , Will Adamsdale – but by and large the shortlists read like a roster of top comedic talent from around the world, so don't believe any po-faced comics who say they aren't bothered about winning. As someone who has served on two judging panels (one Perrier and one If.com), I can assure you that comics really do rate them. And the public is always interested, even when they disagree with the panel's opinions. Any whiff of the panel's interest in a newcomer means that the comic will attract media coverage and more ticket sales.

The 2005 main award winner, the previously unheard-of Laura Solon , was performing to tiny audiences in a back room of a dingy pub, but when word got out that the panel were trooping in to see her, the rest of her run immediately sold out. It's vital that these awards continue. Burns, whose day job is being a top West End theatre producer, is funding them herself this year in anticipation of finding a sponsor for 2010, and I sincerely hope she can. In the past I have been critical of some aspects of the awards (the occasional weak judge, or my suspicion that female comics have a tougher time of it), but one has to acknowledge Burns's passion for comedy and the contribution she has made to the Fringe. Even if the awards do find a long-term sponsor, they are in danger of losing their identity. Most people in the industry defiantly continued to call them the Perriers – even after 2006, when they became (variously) the If.comeddies, the Eddies and, more cheekily, the Iffies. They are now officially the Edinburgh Comedy awards, but they are Nica Burns.

So why not just call them the Nicas? After last year's ticketing chaos and the resignation of director Jon Morgan, organisers claim this year's August spectacular will be the best yet Published: 10 Jun 2009 Edinburgh reports: time to stand up for the Perrier - Telegraph Edinburgh reports: time to stand up for the Perrier Image 1 of 2 The Cambridge Footlights (left) won the Perrier at its inception in 1981, Lee Evan was the 1993 winner Tim Minchin (left) and Eddie Izzard By Dominic Cavendish 12:01AM BST 24 Aug 2005 At lunchtime today, the most prestigious prize in comedy announces its shortlist. Dominic Cavendish salutes the talent that it has unearthed in its 25 years, and scotches the rumours of its recent decline In pictures: the 2005 Perrier Award shortlist The silliest thing I've seen all festival is the story, circulating in papers that should know better, that this year's contenders for the Perrier Award are a bunch of no-hopers.

The judging panel, we've been told, has been in despair about drawing up a decent shortlist of five outstanding names, to be announced at lunchtime today, from which a winner will be chosen on Saturday night. Surveying the 232 eligible acts so far has been a soul-destroying business , apparently, with hardly anyone displaying the "X factor" required to wipe the Simon Cowell-like scowls from the faces of 2005's gaggle of media pundits, television and radio bigwigs and specially chosen punters. Even if those running the awards, which are supervised by theatre producer/owner Nica Burns, hadn't swiftly countered that this was all a massive exaggeration - and that some perfectly run-of-the-mill remarks, expressing the perennial view that for every corker of a show there are half a dozen stinkers, had been misrepresented - you'd still have to laugh. For one thing, Perrier-bashing is an annual pastime; this year being the 25th anniversary of the main award, any opportunity will be seized on to imply that the whole shebang has lost its fizz.

There are some, like the local Stand comedy club, who call for the award to be scrapped on the grounds that it damages comedians by effectively branding the non-winners failures - which is a bit like claiming that those who don't get the Nobel Peace Prize feel as though they stand accused of fomenting war. Then there are others who love to hark back to better days, even if that means denigrating the work of hundreds of up-and-coming comics. Of course it's true that some years must be better than others, in so far as anything so intangible can be measured. Who doesn't look at the shortlist for 1991, which saw Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard, Lily Savage and Frank Skinner all jostling for the prize (Skinner bagged it) and not marvel at the constellation of stars-in-the-making contained therein? Likewise, in terms of future household names, 1997 saw another bumper harvest, the League of Gentlemen scooping the award from under the noses of Al Murray ("the Pub Landlord"), Johnny Vegas and Graham Norton. But, as Burns points out, it's very easy to be awed with the benefit of hindsight.

When she took over running the award in 1984, swiftly expanding it to include a published shortlist of nominees and introducing a proper London transfer run, there was no great buzz about it, she recalls. And that was despite Cambridge Footlights - Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson et al - having won the first gong in 1981. "People still didn't really have much clue who they were," she recalls. "It took them time to establish themselves." The Perrier helps to make stars, and the stars in turn help to make Perrier the most prestigious prize in comedy, but it's only over time that you realise what a reliable indicator of emerging talent the award is. Any overview, then, which seeks to weigh the latest crop of comedians against previous generations is by definition rushing to judgment. None the less, I'd suggest that once the panel are past the worst of their po-faced deliberations (and speaking as a former Perrier judge, I can vouch for how solemn and grinding the early sessions can be, as the list gets painstakingly whittled down), they will come to realise just what a lot of gifted, smart-minded comics there are coming through the ranks at the moment.

In fact, I suspect they'll be hard-pushed to acknowledge the sheer number of discoveries this year. Alongside strong showings from reasonably established stand-ups like Chris Addison and fellow former nominee Phil Nichol, this year we've seen names like Tim Minchin , Laura Solon and Dan Tetsell materialise from nowhere to be talked about in breathlessly excited tones. Minchin, a scarecrow-haired Australian who's a wizard at the keyboard, was hailed on these pages as the find of the festival, thanks to his memorably eccentric ditties on such subjects as blow-up sex dolls and the eco-perils of using plastic bags. But even his eye-catching eruption on to the scene has been eclipsed in the last few days by the extraordinary debut of Laura Solon, a 26-year-old from London who, when her comedy partner cut loose, decided to write a whole hour of solo material from scratch in three weeks. Performed in the backroom of a pub, the show, which mysteriously retains the original title (Kopfraper's Syndrome), sees this photogenic blonde tackling a wide range of characters, from away-with-the-fairies Sloanes to tough-as-boots chavs, with immense versatility, confidence and charm.

The writing is as fresh as a cowslip, as sharp as a kitchen-knife, and sometimes as coarse as a fishwife; I particularly liked Solon's turn as Karen, a Yorkshire lass who specialises in arranging ghastly celebrity-themed weddings, and who says of her native Rotherham with a very Noughties kind of vacuity: "You visit for the night-life but you live there for the glamour." Dan Tetsell is another who's hit the ground running with athletic assurance. Taking as his subject the awkward fact that his grandfather was a decorated SS soldier, he manages to probe his own motivations with the same keen wit that he applies to his forebear's legacy as one of Hitler's stooges. Has he inherited Nazi DNA? - "I have a very short temper," he worries, deadpan. What would he do if fascists came to power?

- "As someone who writes for Basil Brush, I belong to the least useful section of society." One of many younger comics to deploy video projections with flair, he typifies a trend among his peers to use technology to tease and challenge the audience, rather than pander to short attention-spans; stand-up as a form seems to undergoing a new lease of life, playing a far more prominent part than sketch shows and character comedy in the festival mix, but this time round it's being bolstered by intelligent digital embellishments. Who can predict this year's shortlist or victor? I think it would be criminal for the wonderfully lippy Mancunian Alan Carr not to be given his dues as the most naturally endearing - if campest - new stand-up on block; I shall long treasure his appalled likening of going on Big Brother to "being locked on a night-bus". Irishman Andrew Maxwell, who sums up the Edinburgh Fringe as "exams for clowns", leaves a warm afterglow in the memory too for arguing that, after centuries of misdemeanours, it's time for men to hand over the running of the world to women: "We've made a mess.

You clean it up." Satirical wagsters Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver have never been more on the ball, pretending that they've farmed out the writing of their jokes to a 10-year-old Indonesian boy - and pithily encapsulating Britain's collective amnesia regarding past foreign policy blunders with the coinage "history-ectomy". Riding off into the wings on a customised washing-machine at the end of a show dedicated to "Happiness", Lucy Porter, who looks like the most obvious candidate to claim the Perrier crown for women for the first time since Jenny Éclair won in 1995, embodies the Dunkirk spirit of this year's Fringe. Amid a summer darkened by the shadow of terrorism, she and all of the above raised smiles to the lips, and laughs from the belly. Whoever wins £7,500 and a leg-up to fame and fortune on Saturday deserves congratulations, but for once, let's also congratulate the prize that makes that midnight hour of glory possible.

Perrier nominees shows, Aug 28, 29, Assembly Hall, Edinburgh (0131 226 2428); Best Newcomer Show Smirnoff Underbelly (0870 745 3083), Aug 28; 'The Perrier' London season, Oct 9, 16 and 23, venue to be confirmed (020 7494 5558) Perrier Award past winners 1981 Cambridge Footlights (line-up included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Slattery and Emma Thompson) 1982 Writers Inc Tim Minchin · About Biography | TV & Radio | Quotes/Reviews | Awards Below is some general biographical information about the artist both formerly and currently known as Tim Minchin. If you have a question not answered on this page, you should try the FAQ page . Or if you think you’d like to discuss all the finer points and look at a myriad of photos, you should get in amongst the nitty-gritty and go to Linzy’s Official Fan Page, Angry (Feet) .

Biography Photo by Joan Marcus Tim Minchin is an Australian composer/lyricist, musician, comedian, actor, writer and director. He was born in October 1975 and grew up in Perth, Western Australia, the second of four children. He attended Christ Church Grammar School, The University of Western Australia (Bachelor of Arts) and The WA Academy of Performing Arts (Advanced Diploma of Contemporary Music). He spent his twenties writing songs, playing in bands, acting in plays, composing for theatre, playing piano for cabaret artists and penning tongue-in-cheek beat poems. Soon after he married his university sweetheart, Sarah Gardiner, in Perth in 2002, they moved to Melbourne. Failing to garner record company support for his 2001 album, Sit (with band Timmy the Dog) and struggling to attract the attention of an acting agent, Tim survived playing keyboards for Melbourne cover-band, The Sea Monkeys, and piano for solo artists – most notably Melbourne composer, lyricist, actor and satirist, Eddie Perfect. In 2003 he debuted his first solo comic cabaret show, Navel – Cerebral Melodies With Umbilical Chords, for the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Performed with a bass player and drummer in a 50 seat venue called The Kitten Club, it contained songs, poems and sketches. It was modestly successful, inspiring Tim to perform solo more often. After regular performances at the legendary Butterfly Club during 2004, he premièred Dark Side at the RMIT Kaleide Theatre as part of the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF). Good reviews and word of mouth attracted the attention of Karen Koren, a well-known producer, who was scouting for new talent for her Edinburgh Fringe Festival venue, The Gilded Balloon. In August that year, Dark Side became one of the most acclaimed comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, and Tim won the Perrier Best Newcomer Award. Sarah and Tim’s journey from their early days in Melbourne to the birth of their first child in London in November 2006 was captured in Rock n Roll Nerd , a feature documentary made by their close friend, Rhian Skirving. The critically lauded film was shown in Australian cinemas in 2008. In the five years that followed, Tim toured the UK and Australia as a solo performer, attracting growing audiences and many awards.

He also performed in Canada, the US, Europe, Scandinavia and New Zealand. By 2010, he was performing with symphony orchestras, and selling out some of the world’s most famous venues, including The Royal Albert Hall and the O2 Arena in the UK, and The Sydney Opera House in Australia. Over this time he released five DVD titles: So Live (Aust) and So F**king Rock (UK); Ready for This? filmed at the Enmore (Aust) and Ready For This? filmed at the Apollo (UK); and Tim Minchin and The Heritage Orchestra Live at The Royal Albert Hall. In 2009, he was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) to write the music and lyrics for a stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda. Directed by Matthew Warchus and with a book by Dennis Kelly, the musical opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 2010. Matilda the Musical has gone on to become one of the most critically and popularly successful musicals of the last 20 years, winning more than 50 international awards including a record seven Olivier Awards and five Tony Awards.

It continues to run on the West End and Broadway, tours in the US and it opened at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, Australia in August 2015. More on Matilda the Musical here . In 2010, Tim narrated Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing , which went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. During a trip to LA, for a charity concert in April 2012, Tim successfully auditioned for the role of Atticus Fetch in Showtime’s David Duchovny vehicle, Californication. He played rockstar Atticus in 10 episodes of season six. See the season trailer here . Later that year, Tim was cast as Judas Iscariot in the spectacular arena production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Co-starring Ben Forster as Jesus and Melanie C as Mary, it toured the UK and Australia in 2012-13. There are some quotes on Tim’s performance in the Quotes/Reviews section. The show was released on a DVD which is available worldwide. A few clips can be found here .

Alongside childhood friend Toby Schmitz, Tim starred in the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) production of Tom Stoppard’s absurdist, existentialist tragicomedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, directed by Simon Phillips, in July 2013. That same year, he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by The University of Western Australia (UWA), for his contribution to the arts. He gave the “occasional address” for the graduation ceremony, the video of which which went viral. You can see the video or read a transcript of Tim’s speech here . In 2014, Orion Publishing released a graphic novel of Minchin’s beat poem, Storm. It was created by DC Turner and Tracy King, following the success of their animated movie of the same piece which has been viewed well over three million times. Tim, Sarah and their two children, Violet (b 2006) and Caspar (b 2009) moved to Los Angeles in 2014, where Tim is directing and writing the music and lyrics for Larrikins, a Dreamworks animated feature, set in the Australian outback.

With a script by Harry Cripps, Larrikins is slated for release in early 2018. Tim as Smasher (Photo – ABC TV) In 2015, he appeared as Northern Irish ex-convict, Smasher Sullivan, in The Secret River, an Australian drama mini-series adapted from Kate Grenville’s acclaimed novel and directed by Daina Reid for the ABC. Towards the end of 2015, Tim will guest star as a security guard in No Activity, a comedy drama production by Jungleboys for Australian streaming service Stan. Directed by Trent O’Donnell, the series follows two detectives on a stakeout. He is also working on a stage musical adaptation of Groundhog Day , with Danny Rubin (who wrote the original screenplay) and Matthew Warchus. Following its hugely successful and acclaimed limited run at The Old Vic, London, in the summer of 2016, the show transfers to the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, Spring 2017.

Tim is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Old Vic Theatre, an ambassador for The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts , a patron of the British Humanist Association , and patron of the West Australian Youth Theatre Company (WAYTCo) . He is a keen supporter of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity (UK), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) , the National Autistic Society (NAS) and the Los Angeles homelessness charity, PATH .

The World Stands Up (Paramount Comedy, 2006) Comedy Shuffle (BBC3, 2007) The Graham Norton Show (BBC TWO, 2008) The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2009 (Channel 4, 2010) Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC TWO, 2008 x2, 2009, guest host in 2010) Genius (BBC TWO, 2010) Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBC ONE, 2009,2010) 8 Out of 10 Cats (Channel 4, 2010) Ruth Jones’ Easter Treat (BBC TWO, 2011) “BBC Proms” Prom 40: The Comedy Prom (BBC TWO, 2011) Blue Peter (BBC ONE, 2011) The Royal Variety Performance (ITV1, 2011) Children In Need (BBC ONE, 2012) QI (BBC TWO, 2013) Shakespeare Live!

From The RSC (BBC TWO, 2016) Ireland: The Late, Late Show (RTE One, 2011) Australia: Spicks and Specks (ABC1 2006, 2007, 2009) The Sideshow (ABC1, 2007 x4) Good News Week (Network Ten, 2010) Ben Elton’s Live from Planet Earth (Channel 9, 2011) Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight (ABC1, 2011) The Project (Channel Ten, 2014, 2015, 2016 x2) Play School (ABC KIDS, 2016) Meet the Mavericks (ABC ARTS, 2016) US: Conan (11/10c on tbs, 2011 x2, 2012, 2015) The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS, 2011) @midnight (Comedy Central, 2014, 2015) Radio Tim Minchin and Friends (BBC Radio

 2, 2007) Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better, Series 1.

(BBC Radio 4, 2007) Tim Minchin’s Loving and Peaceful Yuletide Half Hour (BBC Radio 2, 2007) Strings (BBC Radio 2, 2010) The Infinite Monkey Cage (BBC Radio 4, 2010 & 2011) Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio 4, 2012) Chain Reaction (BBC Radio 4, 2012) Australia: Live Set – Sonic Sessions (ABC Radio National, 2016) The Conversation Hour (774 ABC Radio Melbourne, 2016) Quotes/Reviews Comedy Shows “If you’re going to play big spaces, this is the way to do it; with a 55-piece orchestra and a juggernaut full of showmanship, making this a big show in every sense…a superlative night out.” (Chortle) “Minchin…the insanely gifted Australian is rounding off the year with an audacious show that sees him accompanied on stage by the 55-piece Heritage Orchestra…Taken all in all, a thing of jaw-dropping wonder.” (Daily Telegraph, London) “Tim Minchin comes on and the

 crowd explodes… the kohl-eyed, back-combed, piano-playing Minchin… lives up to the hype.

A slight, barefoot figure, he is a consummate pianist as well as an excellent comedian.” (Daily Telegraph, London) “If there’s an artist more naturally disposed to a hybrid of pop and orchestration, I do not know his name”. (The Age, Melbourne) “Minchin gave full rein to his musical genius, launching satirical songs like hand grenades into the crowd’s sensibilities” (The Sunday Mail, Adelaide) “Don’t be conned by the use of “vs” in the advertising. Minchin and his orchestras work magnificently together for 2.5 hours” (The Australian) “All up, Ready For This? is one of the most entertaining 2 hours of comedy you could experience. It’s a night of constant laughter, entertainment and deep thinking peppered with witty lyrics and first class musical prowess. An absolute must…” (Daily Telegraph, Sydney) “Tim Minchin is a genius, pure and simple. He is to musical comedy what Charles Darwin was to evolution and what Einstein was to physics and moustaches. You’d be hard pushed to find a more sublimely talented comedian.

Handsome, hysterical and divinely musically gifted – you can go off people, you know!” (Tim Arthur, Time Out) “One of our all time favourite comics. This remarkable Aussie is a musical genius and quite unlike anyone else out there.” (Time Out) “Guaranteed to bring the house down.” (Metro) “One of the funniest and most amazing shows you will ever see.” (Daily Telegraph, Sydney) “Simultaneously an excellent stand-up comedian, a purveyor of physical comedy, an accomplished musician and a lyricist of diabolical ingenuity. Witty, smart, and unabashedly offensive.” (The Age, Melbourne) “Minchin is a genuine musical virtuoso, whose songs are constructed and sung with an attention to detail that would make Rufus Wainwright sit up and look nervous.

And that’s even before we get to the jokes.” (The Times, London) “Articulate, thoughtful, dry and unashamedly polysyllabic… dark irreverent and talented… excellent, provoking, funny.” (The Age, Melbourne) “Take out a second mortgage, sell the car, and put the money on the safest bet you’ll ever make in this uncertain world: that Tim Minchin will be the next big thing in musical comedy”. (Time Out, London) “He plays like an angel, sings like the rock star he always wanted to be and has a devil of a sense of humour. This is an extraordinary performer.” (The Scotsman, Edinburgh) Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Tour “Tim Minchin is simply superb in the role. He sings amazingly well, but it is his face full of weary intelligence that keeps the heart of the show pure, in the midst of all the amplification (the sound is very much that of a rock gig) and razzmatazz…But it is Minchin who proves that Jesus Christ Superstar is a work of conceptual genius.” (The Telegraph) “Tim Minchin’s Judas Iscariot commands attention from the moment he steps on stage.

Understated, focused and powerful, Minchin’s vocal oozes raw emotion and tells the story in an array of compelling colour. When Minchin is on stage all other sensation is lost, you live, you breathe to hear and see what he has to say or do next.” (The Yorkshire Times) “Tim Minchin, as Judas, is possibly the real star of the show, looking every inch the rock star and with an astonishing voice to match. His portrayal is both menacing but compassionate.” (The Nottingham Post) “Tim Minchin’s voice and performance are impeccable and his Judas is charismatic and strangely alluring. His rendition of Superstar is bold and fervent, and his death scene is the most poignant moment of all.” (Herald Sun, Australia) “It is Minchin, though, who dominates — as he must. Two of his set pieces are bookends of the show.

He reveals a fine higher vocal register as he bursts out of the blocks with Heaven on Their Minds and then leads the full ensemble cast of 50 in the rousing finale of the title song, Jesus Christ Superstar, which had the audience on their feet.” (West Australian) 2016 Logie Awards – Most Outstanding Supporting Actor (Smasher Sullivan, The Secret River, ABC) 2013 WhatsOnStage Awards – Best Supporting Actor in a Musical – Tim Minchin, Jesus Christ Superstar 2012 WhatsOnStage Awards – The London Newcomer of the Year for Tim Minchin, Matilda The Musical 2012 WhatsOnStage Awards – Best New Musical for Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly, Matilda The Musical 2011 Helpmann Award – Best New Australian Work for Tim Minchin Vs Sydney Symphony 2011 Chortle Awards – Best Music or Variety Act 2011 Chortle Awards – Best Tour (Tim Minchin And His Orchestra) 2010 Chortle Awards – Best Music or Variety Act 2009 Chortle Awards – Sketch, variety or character act, Best full show: Ready for This?

2009 Green Room Awards (Cabaret) – Best Artiste, Best Original Songs 2009 Helpmann Award – Best Comedy Performer for his show Ready For This? 2007 US Comedy Arts Festival – Best Alternative Comedian 2006 Greenroom Awards (Cabaret) – Best Artiste, Best Show, Best Original Songs 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival – Perrier Award for Best Newcomer 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival – Directors’ Award Nominee 2016 Logie Awards – Most Outstanding Supporting Actor (Jacob, No Activity, Stan) 2011 British Composer Awards – Best Stage Work for Tim Minchin (for Matilda The Musical) 2011 Australian Record Industry Association Awards (ARIA) – Best Comedy Release: Tim Minchin & The Heritage Orchestra (Navel/Inertia) 2011 Chortle Awards – Best DVD: Ready for This?

2009 Melbourne International Comedy Festival – Barry Award (Most Outstanding Show) 2009 GQ Man of The Year – Comedic Talent of the Year 2006 Melbourne International Comedy Festival – Barry Award (Most Outstanding Show) 2005 Greenroom Awards (Cabaret) – Best Original Songs, Best Artiste, Best Show: Darkside (For Matilda The Musical awards, please see the Matilda Page ).

Question: From 1981 to 2005, the Perrier Awards were made at which festival?
Answer: Edinburgh